Collection: William Stannard’s ‘The Art Exemplar'

Description: William Stannard’s The Art Exemplar (London, 1859?) is a mid-nineteenth-century encyclopedia of illustration processes. In addition to describing traditional processes such as etching and wood engraving, The Art Exemplar covers techniques that were new and experimental at the time. Some of these processes, such as Anaglyptography—a mechanical process of converting a three-dimensional design to an engraved plate—were in use for only a short time and are otherwise difficult to research. The techniques are thoroughly described, and nearly all are illustrated with an original print from Stannard’s own collection. The Grolier Club has one of only 11 known copies of this book in existence.